The Secret of the Shrieking Shack
by Hippogriff Keeper
Summary: The Shrieking Shack has been empty for years. People think that it will always remain so. But things are about to change when a werewolf attack changes the life of Dominique Weasley.
1. Prologue

The Secret of the Shrieking Shack by: Snidget76

Summary: _The Shrieking Shack has been empty for years. People think that it will always remain so. But things are about to change when a werewolf attack changes the life of Dominique Weasley._

**Prologue **

The back door of Shell Cottage closed with a snap as Dominique Weasley emerged from her house and made her way to the edge of the sloping cliff that supported it. The cliff's base led to a beach where the ocean continued into the horizon, this was where Dominique was headed.

When she reached the edge she sat down and gazed up at the full moon hovering above the water. Dominique sighed in relief; it was peaceful up here; the air was clear. She drew her knees up to her chest and breathed in deeply. Here she always felt good. There was silence for a few seconds then she heard it. A low rumbling growl, Dominique stood up cautiously and looked around. She didn't see anything except for the glowing orange-yellow light from inside of Shell Cottage. She heard it again, a bit louder this time.

Dominique realized the sound was coming from below. She lay on her stomach and  
>carefully leaned over the edge and looked down. What she saw nearly made her fall forward. There was a large cluster, a mass of black; in the moonlight Dominique could make out their figures. She could see their snouts, hear the growling. At first she thought it was a pack of wolves, but on closer inspection she realized what they really were was much worse: there was a pack of werewolves at base of her home.<p>

Dominique backed away from the cliff edge and ran back to her house to warn her parents. She went to the back door panting out of breath and clutching a stitch at her side, disregarding this she yanked the door open and raced inside. Her thirteen year old brother, Louis was sitting at the kitchen table reading a Quidditch magazine; he looked up when she entered the house. He instantly realized something was wrong.

"What's happened?" he asked concernedly.

"Werewolves…beach…problem…help!" Dominique cried out, gasping for breath. Louis stood up immediately and came around the table to where Dominique stood shaking.

"Calm down. What happened, tell me," He hugged her as if comforting a small child.

Dominique took a deep breath then burst into speech, "I was out on the edge of the cliff and I heard a noise, like growling…" Dominique began, she was surprised with how calm and level her voice sounded "I looked down at the beach and noticed a gathering of werewolves. _Were_wolves, Louis, not regular wolves" Dominique emphasized.

Louis looked stunned "y-you sure," he stammered.

"Why would I lie about it?" she exclaimed.

Louis gave a small nod then grabbed Dominique's upper arm and led her to the sitting room where he called out for their father. Their father came up to them, looking worried at the expressions on his youngest children's faces. "What's wrong?" he asked, cautiously, preparing for the worst. Dominique retold the information she had told Louis, all about the gathering on the beach. As she spoke her father's face drained of color, making the scars that were across it more prominent. Bill gathered his composure and said "both of you get your sister and go to the safe house…" Dominique and Louis stood in almost a daze. "Now!" Bill snapped when they hadn't moved. Without waiting for a response he went to the kitchen, grabbed a quill and a sheet of parchment from a nearby drawer and began scribbling furiously.

Louis and Dominique left the kitchen and came to the base of the stairs. "Come on Dom we've got to go," said Louis.

"Wait a minute. Don't you think we should stay? Shouldn't we help?"

"Dominique we don't have time to argue. Dad told us we have to leave, so that's what we're going to do," replied Louis in an authoritative tone. Dominique nodded and followed her brother up the steps to her older sister's bedroom.

Dominique knocked on the door as she heard her mother exclaiming loudly in French "qu'est - Ce que?" from the kitchen, evidently her father had told her what was happening on the beach.

Louis and Dominique's sister, Victoires' bedroom door opened suddenly revealing Victoire staring at her siblings. "Why is Mum upset?" she asked. Before either of them could respond their mother called all three of them to the sitting room.

When all three of them entered the sitting room their parents wasted no time in telling them the seriousness of the situation. "Oo need to leeve for ze safe'ouse immediately," said their mother, Fleur. She held out a bag of what the children assumed was floo powder for Victoire to take.

"What about you?" asked Dominique, her fear evident in every word she spoke.

"We're staying to wait for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and if we have to fight we will. But you have to be safe, so you will wait at the safe house," replied Bill. At that moment three things happened at the same time that cut off further discussion of the topic of who was staying and leaving. First, several cracks were heard from outside the house, second, a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky illuminating the outside, revealing a line of indistinct figures, and third, a howl was heard outside throwing out all previous thoughts from inside Shell Cottage.

"No arguing. Victoire you're in charge of your brother and sister until we come to fetch you. Understood?" asked Bill turning to his eldest child, Victoire nodded and grabbed the floo powder from her mother whose beautiful face was etched with worry.

"Wait Dad, you don't need to stay," Louis tried to convince his father.

"My priority at the moment is getting you three to safety, we'll follow along behind," answered Bill. He had barely finished saying this before the air was cut through with the sounds of shouts, screams, and howls and growls. The werewolves were getting restless and hungry for flesh.

"'urry, into ze fireplace," said Fleur in an anxious, urgent whisper.

Rather reluctantly Victoire took a pinch of the glittery powder from the bag her mother gave her and threw it into the fireplace while shouting out the address to the safe house "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!" Victoire stepped into the now emerald green flames of the fireplace and was gone in a swirl of flames and ashes. Louis followed with Dominique next to him. Just before the green flames whisked her and her brother away to safety, Dominique saw the kitchen window break and the snout of a werewolf forcing his way into her house. Then the flames obscured her vision and the next second she was spinning out of control, travelling through the floo network and seeing flashes of other people's sitting rooms.

When the spinning stopped Dominique and Louis found themselves in the kitchen fireplace of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place also known as the safe house. Victoire, who was already there, rushed forward helped Louis and Dominique out of the fireplace, and began brushing of soot and ashes from them as they stumbled out,. "Come on, upstairs; the Drawing Room," said Victoire leading the way out of the kitchen, up the stairs, past the stuffed elf heads along the hallway, and finally into the Drawing Room.

"How long will it be until mum and dad join us then?" asked Louis.

"Shouldn't be long now," replied Victoire. She looked especially strained with her reddish blonde hair coming out of its ponytail. She walked over to the coffee table that was in the center of the room and placed the floo powder bag on top of it; Dominique stared at it for a fraction of a second then turned away. The three of them chose one of the many armchairs in the room and curled up on them, not speaking. All thinking the same thing, _what was taking their parents' so long?_

Dominique remembered the werewolf forcing its way into her house and realized her parents wouldn't be joining her and her siblings anytime soon. An idea, a crazy one came into her head. But she had seen the amount of werewolves on the beach and knew roughly the size of the Department fighting them. They didn't stand much of a chance. They needed help, maybe she could help, she shook her head, _that's ridiculous, and I'm ten years old. But I just want to know if they're alright. They're my parents._ Coming to a decision, Dominique stood up and grabbed the floo powder bag from the coffee table.

"Dom, what are you doing?" Victoire and Louis asked in unison, both getting up, concerned. Without answering them Dominique left the room and broke into a run. She heard her brother and sister behind her, jumping the last three steps of the staircase she ran into Grimmauld Places' kitchen.

Victoire was just opening the door with Louis right on her heels when Dominique opened the velvet bag and took pinch of the powder inside. Realizing what her sister was doing Victoire rushed forward.

"Dominique don't-"

She started but was cut off when Dominique tossed the powder into the fireplace and shouted "SHELL COTTAGE!"

Louis moved forward hoping to grab her arm before she stepped into the fireplace, Victorie lunged forward as well.

Dominique jumped into the fireplace and both siblings were too late, she vanished in a swirl of ash.

"She took the floo powder with her. What are we supposed to do now?" asked Victoire, sounding desperate and out of options.

Howls were heard everywhere as the attack continued. Many people were bitten. The Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures trying their best to control the werewolves, but their attempts were futile.

"Dad?" cried Dominique, "Where are you? Maman! " She called out again. She was scared to death, this was a werewolf battle and she was in the middle of it. _Why did she leave the protection of the safe house? I shouldn't be here_ she thought as she ran back into the house toward the fire place with the floo powder bag in hand.

Out of the corner of his Bill Weasley saw the silvery blonde head of his youngest daughter from inside the house. With the flick of his wand he stunned the werewolf in front of him and raced towards the house, firing jinxes like a madman at everyone in his way; thinking only of Dominique and how he needed to make sure she was unharmed.

"Boom!" the fireplace exploded, sending debris everywhere. Dominique ducked just in time, her heart sinking as she did so - her only means of escape from the war zone gone right before her eyes. She started to cry _don't do this to yourself, dad or mum or someone will get you. You're a Weasley, come on_ she thought to herself as she pulled herself off the ground and started to run out the front door as two werewolves rounded the corner. Thankfully they didn't see her … yet. They caught up to her as she neared the sloped cliff that led to the beach. One erupted in flames as it came out of the house. The other continued the _"hunt"._ Dominique was two feet from the cliff when she heard a scream behind her. She just had enough time to turn around before a blur of black and red hit her.

It was pain beyond anything imaginable as the werewolf's jaws tore into her shoulder. As the attack continued, she attempted to push her hands at the wolf's muzzle to keep him away but it was a useless attempt. There was puddle of her blood surrounding her, her blonde hair matted in it. _This is it,_ she thought,_ I'm going to die._

"DOMINIQUE!" someone screamed, but it sounded faint and distant to Dominique, almost like a whisper that could be easily forgotten. There was a burst of red light. Another shout rang through the night, just before it faded into blackness.

"She's lost a lot of blood, we need replenishing potion quick!" said an unfamiliar voice. Lights flashed overhead as Dominique drifted in and out of consciousness trying to make sense of her surroundings. _I'm dead, that's for sure, so why's everyone making such a fuss?_ She thought as she went out of consciousness again.

"Dominique," whispered Fleur to her youngest daughter, "wake up". Bill, her husband had gotten the werewolf off of her just as she blacked out. "It's a miracle that she even survived, you've got yourselves a fighter here," the healer had said.

"Anything?" asked Bill.

"Nothing," replied Fleur sadly. Bill put his face in his hands trying to staunch the flow of tears that were seeping from behind his eyelids.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?" said a voice. They turned around to see a healer opening the door of the room. Bill quickly wiped his eyes and stood to greet the healer, Fleur right behind him. "This is rather hard to say," the healer said. Fleur gripped Bill's hand and in a vice-like grip as the healer said her next words. "I'm afraid that there was nothing we could do to stop the effects of the bite," she paused as the color from Bill and Fleur's face drained from them. "Your daughter, I'm sorry to say has Lycanthropy. It's quite tre-"

"I know," said Bill rather desperately, "Can't there be a mistake?"

"I'm sorry sir, but no"

"YOU'RE LYING," bellowed Bill. The healer jumped back in alarm. "I-I'm sorry," he muttered.

"I think you'd like to-to tell h-her," stuttered the healer, and then hurried from the room.

Dominique started to open her eyes at the sound of shouting; she heard hurried footsteps then a door closing. "Dominique…. Dominique," said a voice, vaguely familiar… _my dad! _She thought. Her eyes snapped open.

"You're awake," breathed Bill with mirth and…. a hint of apprehension.

"D-dad, what happened?" A long silence followed the question.

Finally Fleur spoke "Sweetie 'oo vere attacked vy a verevolf, ze 'ealers said zat," she paused; tears began to form in her eyes as she struggled to pursue telling the story "Dominique ze 'ealers said zat-"

"No d-don't say it, I-I'm one of _them_ right, I'm a-a werewolf." said Dominique with a quiver in her voice. Her parents could only nod. She pressed her eyes together, willing this to be over, this nightmare. Then the tears came, along with the horrible visions of what was to come.


	2. Secrets and Sortings

**Chapter 1: Secrets and Sortings**

_In this chapter you will meet some of my OC's. Anything Harry Potter you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling not me. Enjoy_. _The song the hat sings is from the Sorcerer's Stone. I also do not own The Lion King._

"Come on Dominique," called Victoire from the other side of the door through the wood, "we're going to miss the train."

"Good," replied her sister, Dominique.

"That's not funny; please we're not leaving without you. It's not like anyone's going to notice those marks. And even if they do they won't care," reasoned Victoire, knowing exactly what was bothering her sister.

"Fine," gave up Dominique.

She unlocked her bedroom door and dragged her school trunk out onto the landing. "Happy," she said in a flat voice.

"Very," replied her sister with a smile.

"She lives," exclaimed their thirteen year old brother Louis as he pulled his trunk downstairs.

"Whatever, Louis," called Victoire after him, and then added to her sister. "Come on, we'd better get to the car as well. Dad's not going to wait very long."

"Ready?" asked Bill as his daughters came out of the house with their trunks in their hands.

"As ready as I'll ever be," replied Dominique tonelessly.

"It won't be that bad," said Louis exasperatedly from the back of the car, where he was putting his school trunk in the boot of the car. She shot him a glare and gave her trunk to her father.

"Louis did 'oo remember too put your 'ogsmeade form in your trunk?" asked his mother, Fleur.

"Yes, mum," said Louis.

"Right, we're running a bit late. Come on lets go," said Bill, who was already in the driver's seat ready to go.

When the family arrived at King's Cross station, they made immediately for the barrier dividing platforms nine and ten.

"Okay Dominique you first," said Bill.

"Why does she get to go?" said Louis.

Dominique turned her trolley around and pushed it toward the barrier dividing Platforms 9 and 10.

"Well here goes nothing," she muttered quietly to herself as she broke into a run and ran at the barrier.

She emerged on platform 9¾. She blinked. It was beautiful.

"Dominique," said an annoyed Louis from behind her.

"Okay I'm moving," she said and pushed the trolley toward the train.

"Ted...Ted?" called Victorie from the barrier where she obviously had just come from.

"You're embarrassing yourself, stop shouting," said Dominique muttered as her mum and dad turned in the opposite direction.

"We'll see you in a bit. We're going to have a word with your aunts and uncles," said Bill. "Come down to find us before the train departs."

The girls nodded as Victoire continued to call for her boyfriend. "Isn't that him?" asked Dominique standing on her tiptoes trying to peer over the thickening crowd.

"Maybe….I think….yes!" said Victoire, as the tall figure with the bright turquoise hair came over to where they were standing.

"Victoire…..I was looking everywhere," he said.

"Oh really that's sweet of you," said Victoire.

As Victoire and Ted were talking a dark-haired boy came towards them.

"Ted, I thought you were going to help me with my trunk," he said.

"Oh, James I didn't see you there," said Ted, noticing James right behind him.

"Hi James," greeted Dominique quietly.

"Hey Dom," he said. "So, how's the moonlight?" It was remarkable how quickly she turned color at that simple remark. First, going white, possibly with fear. Then, the pasty color of day old glue. Lastly she turned beet red, not out of embarrassment, but out of anger.

"How-you can't-git!" she stammered.

"Sorry didn't mean to offend you," said James hastily, "I suppose it's too soon for jokes?"

"Yeah, well…Vic shouldn't we find a compartment?" asked Dominique changing the subject rather abruptly.

"Yeah, Ted after you help James find me and Dom on the train, okay?" she said to Ted.

"'Course," he replied as he bent down to give his girlfriend one final kiss.

"Urgh," said James and Dominique together. Victoire ignored them

"James, let's go get your trunk," said Ted, "Come on".

While Ted and James were leaving the barrier opened again revealing five people with blonde hair and slightly spacey looks. "Luna I told you that we had lots of time to spare we didn't have to leave so early," said the man who looked like the husband and father of the group.

The lady right next to him, who must be his wife spoke in a sing- song voice "Rolf, if we were to leave later the thought of being late would have been in our mind attracting Wrackspurts, then we would've been late because of the Wrackspurts effects. You _know_ that."

"Right, I forgot," responded the man who must be Rolf. Dominique watched in amazement as she saw the family start pushing their trolleys toward the train. She vaguely recalled the family as the Scamander's from the family functions her grandmother had invited them to. They hadn't come to many as they traveled a lot. The Scamander's weren't exactly family but they were good family friends.

"Come on Dominique, let's go find a compartment," said Victoire, tugging on her arm and grabbing her trunk with her other hand.

They moved toward the train and eventually found an empty compartment near the prefect's carriage. "You okay?" asked Victoire. Dominique gave a stiff nod as she pushed her trunk onto the luggage rack above their heads. Victoire looked as if she was going to say more but was interrupted.

"Hey, hey," said a voice from the doorway.

"Hi Madeline," addressed Victoire pushing her own trunk into the rack, "shouldn't you be in the Prefect's carriage?"

"Yeah, but not yet…hey did you hear about Margaret from Hufflepuff?"

"No, what happened?"

"She's Head Girl," replied Madeline.

"Really, both Head Girl and Boy in Hufflepuff, they must be pleased," noted Victoire.

"So, Dominique," said Madeline turning to the younger girl in the compartment, she looked startled at the sudden attention, "Ready for Hogwarts?"

"I guess," she responded quietly.

"Any Houses in mind?" Madeline prodded

"Well," started Dominique, "I wouldn't think Ravenclaw is bad—" both Madeline and Victoire beamed. The two of them were in Ravenclaw "- but dad at least wants me to be in Gryffindor, so I don't know," she finally answered.

"That's probably wise," commented Victoire.

"Why?" asked Dominique.

"Because, if you get your heart set on one particular house the disappointments that much greater if you don't get in the house you want," replied Madeline in a knowing voice.

"Did someone order a head boy?" said voice from the compartment door, Ted was back.

"Hey," responded Victoire, jumping up to give him a kiss.

"Madeline, you should be in the Prefects' carriage," remarked Ted noticing the other girls in the compartment.

"Urgh, I know. Why is being a Prefect so much work?"

Ted chuckled "I wonder that too, wouldn't it be so much easier if we got to choose whether we want to be Prefects and Heads?"

"Hmm," said Victoire.

"Well… I'll see you in a bit, Dominique, take care," said Ted. Dominique gave a start at the sudden mention of her name, then nodded wondering what had been said, as she hadn't been listening rather she had been looking at one of her school books i_A Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk/i_

"Madeline have you said hello to Henry yet?" inquired Victoire. Madeline suddenly became really intent on leaving at that moment and didn't answer.

"I'll talk to you at the feast Vic," answered Madeline hurriedly. The next moment she was gone.

Dominique looked up as the compartment door closed, then returned to reading her book. "You know it's going to be fine," said Victoire, sitting down on the seat opposite Dominique.

"I know," sighed Dominique, "It will be fine, I'm just… worried."

"You'll be okay, I have a feeling about it," Victoire smiled, "Now come on, we have to say good bye to mum and dad." They left together and went outside onto the platform.

"Bye sweetie," said Bill as he hugged his youngest daughter, "Be good, and I'll see you at Christmas."

"Bye daddy," murmured Dominique.

"Bye dad," said Victorie taking her turn at hugging her parents.

"Be careful and take good care of your brother and seester," said Fleur hugging and kissing each of her children in turn. "Oo take good care too my leetle boy," she said kissing Louis on the cheek.

"Love you," he said quietly pulling gently away from his mother and waving to his father. A whistle sounded in the distance.

"Get going!" said Bill gesturing wildly toward the train. The three siblings turned tail and sprinted to the train. Victoire got there first and threw open the door for the others. Once inside Louis moved down the south end of the compartments while the girls went in the opposite direction back to their own compartment.

When they re-entered the compartment Dominique went back to her book and hid behind it once more, though she wasn't really looking at the pages. Victoire pulled from her bag N.E.W.T. practice papers, a test she would be taking next year and began writing on them vigorously. A few seconds later the train pulled out of the station, out of the corner of Dominique's eye she saw her parents heading back toward the barrier between the magical and muggle world then the train turned a corner and the platform was lost from sight.

A few minutes later the sisters were interrupted by a voice from just outside the compartment. "Um Dom… Fred and I were wondering if you wanted to come into our compartment," said a voice from the doorway. Dominique looked up to see her Cousin James rocking backward and forward on his feet.

Victoire had looked up too, "Dominique if you want to go ahead."

Dominique glanced at her sister then turned back to James, saying, "Sure I'll come."

"Cool," said James. Dominique got up, grabbed her trunk and left with James down the hallway past compartments until they reached one that had four people, two girls and two boys inside it.

The first person, a girl with dark skin and black hair was at the window seat, leaning on the window frame. Another person; a girl as well but this time with light skin and dirty blonde hair -one of the Scamanders' Dominique had seen on the platform- was reading a magazine called _The Quibbler_. A third person, one of the boys, with flaming red hair and blue eyes, was having a conversation with the fourth person, the other boy in the compartment, who had sandy colored hair and brown eyes. James opened the door.

"Hey James, Dom so you decided to join us," said the boy with red hair who was talking with the other boy who was across him. He was also Dominique's and James's cousin Fred.

"Are you going to stand for the entire journey?" said a mildly interested voice from behind the magazine.

"Um no… Dominique you remember Rowena Scamander from the picnic at the Burrow?" asked James.

"Oh, right," said Dominique, "hi."

"And that is Lena Jordan, and Steve Helm," introduced James first pointing to the girl leaning on the window, who raised a hand in recognition, then to the boy sitting across from Fred.

"Hi," said Dominique to everyone in the compartment, then sitting down in the seat closest to the door.

"So what team do you think will make the cut this year?" asked Fred to the compartment as a whole, bringing conversation to the most popular game in the Wizarding World, Quidditch.

"The Magpies definitely," said Steve.

"No way, the Magpies may have a decent keeper but the Kestrels have better tactics and chaser formations," countered Fred.

"No, no you're both wrong it's the Wigtown Wanderers. They have never had a better year," explained James.

"So the Holyhead Harpies won the league for nothing last year," spoke up Lena from the window. And with that the people in the compartment began a conversation about different Quidditch team's chances in the league that year.

This conversation carried them to lunch, but instead of the lunch trolley a boy came into the compartment with four scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon each. "I'm supposed to give these to James Potter, Fred Weasley, Rowena Scamander, and Dominique Weasley. They're here right?" he asked, looking flustered.

"Um, yes they're here," said James, holding out his hand for the scrolls. The boy handed the scrolls over to him then left in a hurry.

"What are these for?"Inquired Dominique, taking her scroll from James she opened it. It said:

_iMs. Weasley,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for some lunch in Compartment C_

_Sincerely,_

_Professor H. Slughorn/i_

"Urgh, Slughorn. What does i_he/i_ want?" asked Fred.

"Oh dad warned me about this," Exclaimed James, "He is going to want to meet us because of what happened during the war," he groaned.

"But what would he want with us? He only ever seemed interested in Uncle Harry," said Dominique.

"What wouldn't he want from you? You're family are the wonderful Weasleys' and Potters' why i_shouldn't/i _Professor Slughorn want to assume greatness of people based on their brilliant parents and completely ignore everyone else?" said a rather cool voice from the back of the compartment, Lena had given her own opinion on the matter. A silence followed this outburst in which everyone exchanged looks with each other and more than once some of them glanced warily at Lena. The silence was broken when Rowena stood up and made her way toward the compartment door.

"Where are you going?" asked James.

"Well you certainly aren't going to make any move to leave for at least one more minute. I don't see why I should stay so I'm going to see the purpose for being summoned to see Professor Slughorn," said Rowena simply and calmly, she actually looked slightly confused.

"Well I suppose we'd better go now, we should at least meet him- see what he's like," said Fred, attempting to change the subject.

Dominique got up and followed Rowena out of the compartment; the other invitees came up the rear rather awkwardly.

They reached the compartment in silence. Slughorn noticed them at once. "Ah, here they are at last," he exclaimed jovially, "Come, come."

He opened the door and gestured for them to sit down. They all sat down but not before they all had their hands shaken in turn by Slughorn. "Good, good we're all here yes? Now I believe introductions are in order," at this point the four of them now got a good look at the other people in the compartment. "Now this someone I believe you three should know," said Slughorn (indicating Dominique, James, and Fred), pointing at a girl across from him, it was Victoire."This is Victoire Weasley," he continued as Dominique, James, and Fred exchanged looks of recognition with Victoire while Rowena looked as if she wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around her. "I believe we are waiting for one more… ah… yes Mr. Weasley so glad you could join us," said Slughorn as the compartment door opened revealing Dominique's brother Louis.

"Uhhh, yeah sure," he said, looking as though he regretted coming to the compartment.

At this point the compartment was very full, excusing Professor Slughorn who alone took up about half of the compartment all by himself. The other people in the compartment included Dominique's twin cousins Molly and Lucy, and Rowena's twin brothers' Lysander and Lorcan. The other people in the compartment included Sarah Macmillan, Cameron Thomas, and Jules Finnegan. For most of the rest of the journey Slughorn interrogated the various people in the compartment. Needless to say it was slightly uncomfortable for some people.

"Ah, well," said Slughorn, turning towards Dominique, Louis, and Victoire, "for those of you who don't know Dominique's, Louis's, and Victoires' parents fought in the second war with He- Who- Must- Not- Be- Named. What some people don't know is that mister Weasley was attacked by the notorious werewolf Fenrir Greyback one year before the battle. Personally I think we should all be grateful that no infestation had happened. Don't you think?" Professor Slughorn finished his tale to a stunned silence as everyone processed what had been said.

Dominique stared blankly back at him, opening and closing her mouth though no sound came out. _How dare he? What is wrong with that man?_ _Infestation_, _I'll show you infestation._ The visit took off from there, it appeared that the people invited as Lena had said had some sort of relative who was famous for something; apparently the reason Rowena was invited was because her mother had discovered new species of magical creature, this revelation came as a surprise to Dominique who couldn't think of any reason why Slughorn wanted to meet her.

Before anyone could respond, though honestly no one could think of anything to say Slughorn looked out of the window and jumped. "Oh! I had lost track of the time. You should all head back to your compartments and change, we will be arriving soon," he exclaimed with giddy enthusiasm. "Well good luck on the Sorting to all you first years and I'll see you older students in class," he said then started shooing the students out of the compartment.

"Well that was… interesting," remarked James, as the four of them approached their compartment.

"Wow," said Fred "who i_says/i_ that, is he mental or what?" Dominique was speechless; she couldn't believe that anyone could possibly say any of that even if they did hold grudges against people like her.

"Doesn't he know?" Dominique asked in an undertone so Rowena wouldn't hear.

"Guess not," replied Fred. By this time Rowena had caught up but she showed no interest in their conversation.

"Best not dwell on that," said Dominique quickly, then opening the compartment door and stepping inside.

"Come i_on/i_ we've got to change we'll be arriving soon," said Fred.

"How was it?" asked a curious voice from the compartment, Lena looked up as they entered.

"Quite boring to be frank," answered James with a quick glance at Dominique, who fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. That answer seemed to satisfy Lena and Steve who was listening in, and with that all of them opened their trunks and got into their school robes all except Dominique who suddenly looked petrified.

"Er… I- I'll just change in my sister's compartment," she said in a small voice; everyone looked surprised at this.

"We won't bite you know," said Lena pulling her robes out from her trunk.

Dominique paled at the word_ ibite/i_ then said in a high-pitched hurried voice, "Oh no I'm sure that my sister would want to talk for a bit so I- I'll just go and change there. I'll see you in a few minutes then." Before anyone could say anything else Dominique had grabbed her trunk from the rack and left the compartment as though there was a horde of dementors behind her, leaving everyone in the compartment behind her looking either dumbstruck or exchanging startled looks.

The minute Dominique reached her sister's compartment she knocked hard on the door and hoped against hope that she would let her in. the door opened to reveal Victoires' confused looking face.

"What happened?" she asked. Dominique quickly relayed the story of what happened once the group came back to the compartment.

"So can I change here?" she asked hopefully once she was finished, Victoire gestured for her to come in and shut the door behind them.

"But why do you need to change here in the first place?" Victoire asked.

In answer Dominique pulled back the neck of the jumper she was wearing to reveal the scarred and mangled flesh on her shoulder that was a souvenir from the werewolf that bit her in July.

"Oh," said Victoire, understanding. Both of them got into their robes quickly.

"I'd better go; thanks," Dominique said before leaving to go back to the other compartment.

Once all of them were in their school robes they noticed that the train was slowing down, pretty soon it had slowed to a stop. The kids inside the compartment shivered with anticipation as they looked at one another with anxious expressions on their faces, then in one swift movement they all marched outside to be sorted.

"Firs' year's firs' years this way!" called a booming voice over the heads of the unloading students.

"Hagrid!" yelled James to the massive figure that had appeared on the platform as he and the rest of his friends stepped off of the train and onto the platform "Hey Hagrid!"

"Wha- oh there yeh are James. You all righ' there, ready fer yer Sorting?" Hagrid asked as he began to lead James and the other first years down the slope away from Hogsmeade station. Dominique stared around in wonder at her surroundings, it was better than how her brother and sister had described it.

Hagrid led them to the bank of a lake where a small fleet of boats were waiting. "Righ', no more'n four to a boat," said Hagrid before climbing into his own magically reinforced boat and gesturing for the other children to choose their own.

Out of the corner of her eye Dominique saw James, Fred, Steve, and Rowena clamber into a boat. i_So much for sticking together/i_ she thought as she began searching for an empty boat, then she noticed that someone was calling her name, she turned to see Lena Jordan from the train gesturing madly for her to join her in the boat she was sitting in. Grateful for the nice gesture, Dominique climbed in and was immediately followed by two boys. As soon as they had sat down the boat began to move forward.

They bowed their heads as they passed under a curtain of ivy; everyone was silently staring at the looming castle ahead. Soon, much too soon in Dominique's opinion they came to the other side of the lake. She along with the other first years clambered ashore, everyone following Hagrid who was easily spotted even in the darkness. They came up the slope and moved toward the large oak front doors of the castle, and then Hagrid knocked on the doors three times.

The door opened to reveal a slightly plump man in amethyst colored robes with black hair and an excited grin on his face as though he could not have waited long enough for this moment. "I'll take them from here Hagrid, see you at the feast," he said.

"You too Professor Longbottom," replied Hagrid, setting off past Professor Longbottom toward the chambers within.

"Hey Neville," called James as him and the other students filed past the Professor. Dominique who had looked up at the name "Longbottom" smiled at the familiar face. Neville was an old family friend.

Professor Longbottom led them to a side chamber near the double doors that Hagrid had disappeared through and ushered them inside. "Now in a few minutes I'll come and get you for your sorting, in the mean time all you might want to smarten yourselves up a bit." Then Professor Longbottom left, supposedly to the feast and left the children to their own devices.

Elsewhere in the castle two adults were having an argument that though Dominique didn't know it, it concerned her.

"Be reasonable Horace, the child deserves an education. All I'm asking—"

"Minerva I understand what you're asking but I can't do it. You should have asked whether I would. Do you realize what risk a_ iwerewolf/i _would bring to the school?" replied Horace Slughorn with force and a hint of fear.

"This is exactly why I didn't ask your permission Horace. I _knew_ that you were going to behave like this," argued the Headmistress in a hard voice.

"Well, how do you expect me to react? It makes no sense, no sense at all. Haven't the parents heard of homeschooling? Haven't they heard of i_Private Tutors/i_? I won't have it Minerva, I won't have it!"

"You are to make the potion and that's final," said Minerva McGonagall with venom in her voice.

"Just answer me this," pleaded Slughorn, desperation dripping from his voice now, "which student needs the potion?"

"Dominique Weasley.

"We should head to the feast Horace the Sorting will be starting," Minerva changed the subject seemingly not noticing the look of horror now on Professor Slughorn's face.

"Everyone is ready for you now. Follow me," said Professor Longbottom gesturing for the first years to follow him out into the Entrance Hall. Outside of the chamber Professor Longbottom lead them to a pair of double doors and opened them.

Dominique let out a gasp of astonishment at seeing the Great Hall. The ceiling as her family had described showed an exact replica of the sky outside, in this case the ceiling was a brilliant shade of dark blue with many stars. Someone behind Dominique nudged her; she looked around to see Lena gesturing for her to keep moving. Dominique and the other kids followed Professor Longbottom to the other end of the hall. On the way to the head table where they would obviously soon be sorted, Dominique passed the Slytherin table and saw her brother sitting in between her twin cousins Molly and Lucy, he waved as she walked by; next she noticed her sister waving at her from the Ravenclaw table sitting next to Madeline, who gave her a thumbs up. Then Dominique saw the Hufflepuff table and Ted looking excited waved.

Dominique couldn't help but smile at the familiar faces; it helped relieve some of her nervousness about the task ahead. i_It's just a hat; it'll be fine/i_ she continued to tell herself over and over again in her head as they approached the head table. Professor Longbottom stopped in front of the table and told the assembled group of anxious looking first years to line up in front of the teachers' table. After the students were situated, Professor Longbottom pulled a three legged stool from a door behind the head teachers table and an old patched and frayed hat with a rip near the brim. He walked to the front of the line of first years and placed the old hat, the Sorting Hat on top of the stool and stepped back. Everyone in the hall stared at the hat. The rip near the brim of the hat opened like a mouth and it began to sing:

_i"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, _

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you find,_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can top them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you _

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a steady mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap! /i_

There was applause and the hat became still once more. Professor Longbottom then produced a long scroll parchment from inside of his robes. "Now, when I call your name you will step forward and place the Sorting Hat on your head, when the hat says your house you will immediately go to that house's designated table and sit down with your housemates.

"Okay, ready…" he looked down at the parchment in his hands and continued reading "Adcock, Avena," he called out. Avena shakily stepped out of the line and sat down on the stool, holding the Sorting Hat, she looked up uncertainly at Professor Longbottom. He nodded encouragingly and so shrugging she put the hat on her head.

A few seconds later the rip near the brim of the hat opened and shouted to the Great Hall "RAVENCLAW!" and the table next to the one farthest to the left exploded with cheers as Avena scurried over to sit there.

"Bot, Bertie," said Longbottom. Bertie became the first Slytherin. For a few names Dominique zoned out, her attention was brought back when the name "Codwell, Deven" was called out.

He walked to the hat very calmly, almost strutting and nonchalantly placed it on his head a few seconds later the hat screamed "SLYTHERIN!"

And so it continued, "Foote, Comya" became a Hufflepuff and "Fulkins, Loreto" became a Gryffindor. All the while Dominique was becoming increasingly more nervous about her impending sorting.

"Helm, Steve," called out Professor Longbottom, Dominique saw that he was the same Steve from the train and he looked nervous and a little green.

Steve cautiously placed the hat on his head "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat, about one minute later. Steve made his way to the Gryffindor table with a smile.

"Irish, Huan," shouted out Longbottom and Huan was sorted into Slytherin. "Iron, McKenzie," Professor Longbottom called, McKenzie was sorted into Hufflepuff. Lena stiffened next to Dominique as Professor Longbottom yelled out to the Great Hall the name "Jordan, Lena."

"Good Luck," whispered Dominique as Lena stepped out from the line and made her way to the hat, she smiled over her shoulder.

Lena put the hat on her head and after some contemplation the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" Lena for a moment looked stunned, then carefully made her way to the table left of the table farthest to the right of the hall. Professor Longbottom looked at his list again.

"Nott, Anthony" was to some people's surprise sorted into Ravenclaw amid mutterings and whisperings around the Great Hall. "Nye, Acacia" became a Slytherin. The sorting was taking longer than Dominique had thought. "Orchards, Thomas" turned out to be a Ravenclaw and went to sit next to Anthony. i_Probably because he doesn't know any better/i_ thought Dominique, thinking about Nott's Death Eater grandfather.

A few names later brought the people in the Great Hall to one of the most anticipated names of the night. "Potter, James," Professor Longbottom's voice ringed through the silent air of the hall as James (looking quite green) made his way to the stool and placed the hat on his head.

There was silence, then "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled. James got up hurriedly and immediately sat down at the Gryffindor table, where the students already seated there were cheering like the other tables when someone was sorted into their house. "Prescot, Aaron" was the next name called and was sorted into Hufflepuff.

The next name Dominique heard was "Scamander, Rowena."

Rowena came out from the line and placed the hat on her head after a few seconds the hat screamed "RAVENCLAW!" Rowena handed back the hat and sat down at the Ravenclaw table with a smile as though she knew something the hat had not. Dominique was hungry and tired of standing, so she was slightly inattentive for the next few names.

The next name she heard however was "Vanderveer, Adelaide" who was put into Slytherin along with the next person called who was called "Venton, Carmella". The names continued with the hat calling out houses and the applause. "Waldgrave, Belphoebe" brought Dominique back to the present and as Belphoebe made her way to the Gryffindor table Dominique began to feel properly nervous again about her Sorting. i_It's just a hat/i _she kept thinking as Professor Longbottom looked down at his list for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, then he called out, "Weasley, Dominique" to the Great Hall.

Dominique nearly passed out, it was time. She steeled herself up and walked to the three-legged stool with the hat. Professor Longbottom gave her an encouraging smile and just before she pulled the hat on she had a view of the Great Hall, seeing all of the students and seeing the house tables, wondering which one she would have to join.

_i"Ah, yes. A Weasley…"/i_ said a small voice in Dominique's ear causing her to jump. The voice seemed to be coming from the hat itself. i"_But no you are not like your family before you. There is brilliance yet but something holding back true potential. Both sly and cunning but not for Slytherin either. Your bravery might come in handy, but it is not for Gryffindor. I know where to put you.../i _HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat yelled the last word out loud.

Momentarily stunned Dominique's ears adjusted to the cheers coming from the Hufflepuff table. Just as Dominique pulled of the hat she just barely heard the hat say i_"strange though"/i_ before handing the hat back to Professor Longbottom. She then hurried to the Hufflepuff table and took a seat next to Lena, ignoring the whisperings and mutterings of the people around her.

"A iWeasley/i in i_Hufflepuff_/i!"

"And I thought we'd heard the worst of it when her brother and cousins went to Slytherin."

"Why can't they make a Gryffindor for a change; I mean they are i_war heroes_/i?"

"Hey," she said quietly to Lena. Lena nodded and smiled in response. Both of them now turned their attention to the front of the Great Hall, where professor Longbottom began to read off of his list again.

"Weasley, Fred," he shouted out to the hall. Fred stepped out from the line that now only contained about three other children waiting to be sorted. Fred put the hat on his head and waited. So did everyone else.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat as the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers, James clapping the loudest of the lot. Dominique cheered as well, so did Lena.

"You know, I think the Sortings' are rather pointless. I mean other than their organizational use, they're not really helpful," Lena commented as "Welby, Jared" became a Ravenclaw. "And anyway, I also wanted to apologize for what I said on the train about Slughorn and your family. It was wrong," she added rather embarrassedly.

"Don't worry about it," replied Dominique airily, who couldn't really remember the incident at all, "it doesn't matter."

The Sorting ended with "York, Alicia" becoming a Gryffindor and "Zellner, Dita" becoming a Slytherin.

After Dita had taken a seat at the Slytherin table and the Sorting Hat and its stool taken out of the Great Hall, the Headmistress McGonagall stood up to address the students in the school. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Before we start the feast there are a few start of term notices you all should be aware of. To start off First years should note that the Forbidden Forest is off limits. Some older students would do well to remember that as well. Quidditch try-out signup sheets are to be found on the common room notice boards along with the dates and times of them. Also, to any students under Third Year, the village of Hogsmeade is off limits as well. One final thing for all students, Mr. Filch has kindly informed me to remind you that Skiving Snack boxes are among the i_many/i _banned objects at school, for the entire list of banned objects it is located in Mr. Filch's office for those who would like to see it. That is all I would like to say, let the feast begin," McGonagall finished as food appeared on every available surface of each of the tables.

Even though the food was brilliant, Dominique couldn't concentrate on eating, she was thinking about what the hat had said right before she had taken it off. i_What was strange? /i_ Then a horrible thought occurred to her i_what if the hat knows? Then what would be so strange? Was it strange that there was a werewolf in Hufflepuff? Maybe_-/i

"Hey, aren't you going to eat?" Lena interrupted her dark thoughts.

"I guess not," she answered with a shrug.

"Hey, Dominique, Good job on making Hufflepuff," Called Ted from the end of table. Dominique faked a smile back at him, her worries about what the hat knew overriding her relief over the Sorting. The rest of the feast went smoothly enough; Dominique and Lena talking through most of it and becoming friends. When the end of the feast came, Headmistress McGonagall stood up again to signal to the Prefects and the Head Girl and Boy to lead the new First Years to their House Dormitories. There was a great scraping of benches as students stood up and began to make their way to their respective dormitories. Just as Dominique was about to leave the Great Hall she caught sight of Professor Slughorn staring at her with an odd expression on his face, did he look … a little afraid?

The moment Dominique stepped into the Hufflepuff common room she felt as though she was home. There were comfortable looking armchairs in soft cheery colors in front of a beautifully warm fire place. The common room looked like a place of relaxation and had a feeling of "Hakuna Matata" about it that made Dominique think it would be hard to do homework here.

"Okay," called out the female prefect of the Hufflepuff house, snapping Dominique out of her reverie, "Girl's dorms are located up the stairs to your right. Boy's dorms are located up the stairs to your left. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Good night. Oh and all your things from the train have already been brought to your dormitories." She finished addressing the First years.

After the prefect's announcement, Lena grabbed Dominique's arm and followed the other Hufflepuff girls to their dormitories. Dominique found the dormitory to be just as cheery and inviting as the common room was. She and Lena immediately found and chose beds that were next to each other, and grabbed their trunks to get ready for bed.

It wasn't until Dominique had her pajamas' in her hand that she realized what predicament she was in. She looked around; her eyes focusing on the hangings of her bed, Dominique dove onto her bed, much to the stares of her roommates and pulled the hangings closed around her. Once the hangings were securely fastened she quickly put on her pajamas and got out of bed. When she emerged she noticed that her roommates were staring at her with bewildered expressions on their faces.

"I thought I saw a rat," she lied and without further explanation she placed her robes in her trunk, crawled back into bed and went to sleep almost immediately.

Chapter notes:

So sorry for the long wait. I already this chapter written when I realized there were some holes, and then the lengthy validation process brought more mistakes to my attention. Plus no internet access for a week complicates things even more. Anyway this chapter is pretty long so maybe it'll make up for the long wait, enjoy.

End notes:

Please let me know what you think. I thrive on reviews. Once again I am sorry for the long wait.


	3. The Mind of the Wolf

**Chapter 2: The Mind of the Wolf by snidget76**

_In this chapter Dominique has her first classes and experiences her first transformation within the school grounds. Once again anything Harry Potter you recognize belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling. But my OC's are mine._

Dominique's first day at Hogwarts began with a pillow being thrown on her.

"Dom, wake i_up/i_; we'll be late," urged Lena. She picked up a second pillow from her bed and took aim.

"WHAT!" screamed a flustered Dominique. She jumped out of bed and rushed to her trunk to get her school robes.

"You heard me," answered an equally flustered Lena, also digging through her trunk to find her robes.

Dominique having located her robes ran into the bathroom to get changed, while Lena began shoving her school books into her bag while attempting to pull her robes over her head with one hand.

The two of them reached the Great Hall panting for breath. "We made it," gasped out Dominique, clutching at a stitch at her side as the both of them sat down at the Hufflepuff table.

"We haven't made it yet," said Lena grabbing a stack of toast from the rack and splitting it between the two of them.

"You two!" shouted a sharp voice; the two children's heads whipped up at the sound as their Head of House, Professor Sinistra came striding into view. "Here are your timetables. Now get to class. Because it is the first day of school I won't take away any house points. Though your teacher may not be so lenient," she handed each of them a sheaf of parchment and walked briskly away. Dominique cursed as she saw that their first class was Transfiguration.

"Great, the Transfiguration classroom is at the other side of the castle. It'll take forever to get there," she exclaimed.

"We mind as well get started," said Lena, cramming the last of the toast in her mouth, getting up from the table and yanked her book bag from the table. Dominique finished her hurried breakfast and grabbed her bag as well and then the two of them set off to their class, racing through the corridors even though they both knew that they were late.

Dominique reached the classroom first and pulled the door open. The entire class turned around to stare at them. "Hey, Dom, you made it," shouted James from the other end of the cavernous room.

"Jordan, Weasley how nice of you to join us," said voice that sounded like a crisp sheet of paper being torn, Dominique looked to left and saw her teachers dark brown eyes glaring back. The man had dark caramel skin, black hair and a thin mouth set in a sour-looking frown. But unlike the dark aura that hung about him, he was wearing semi-pale lilac robes that made both Dominique and Lena stare. "If you do not realize this, this is a classroom. Take your seats. I'm forgetting something, oh yes ten points from Hufflepuff." Quickly locating seats as far away from their professor as possible they heard that the professor had more to say. "As I was saying before I was _rudely_ interrupted, I am professor Zabini, your transfiguration teacher. I will be your teacher for all your time here at Hogwarts, unless you choose or don't get the required O.W.L.s to not be able to continue in your sixth and seventh years." After that brief introduction, Zabini set the first years to take notes from their books.

The class was uneventful until the end of class, when James stood up on his chair accompanied by Fred who was also in the room and belted out the school song in what he said was "a fit of off the scale school spirit that had to be let go" and promptly lost 15 points from Gryffindor. Once Professor Zabini had dismissed the class, Lena and Dominique practically ran out of the room to try and figure out where to go for their next class as the last of the students from the room behind them filed out from there.

"Hey, Dom, Lena, wait up" called out James, as the two girls showed every intention of leaving the corridor. Dominique turned around and smiled, James had always been one of her favorite cousins.

"Um… sure, I can spare a few moments." She looked questioningly at Lena, who nodded and followed James to the side of the corridor with Dominique.

"You wanted to talk? You better make it quick James, we've got History of Magic in seven minutes," said Dominique, looking at her watch with a frown.

"I just wanted to know where you're common room was," said James, leading them further down the corridor. "So, where is it?"

Lena narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "why would you want to know where the Hufflepuff common room is?"

Suddenly there was a loud bang and several screams, Dominique's and Lena's heads whipped around as large plumes of black smoke and loud trumpets began to appear and be heard. People began to run as they continued to scream and make to the exit. Dominique knew instantly what was going on and turned around to face James who was doubling over laughing so as to confirm her worst suspicions.

"Decoy Detonators James?" she asked incredulously, Dominique looked over at Lena who was trying really hard not to follow James' example and fall over laughing.

"Brilliant, brilliant," Lena said with glee.

"Thank you, thank you," exclaimed James, taking a bow "I didn't want the two of you to be late for class so I distracted you".

By this time the Decoy Detonators had disappeared and the people in the corridor had calmed down, enough so that Dominique, Lena, James could see the red-headed boy who was grinning broadly at them headed toward where the small group was gathered.

"Worked like a charm, James," Fred Weasley said grinning- if possible- even broader.

"Excellent," said James. Dominique noticed the students around them beginning to disperse and remembered her lesson.

"Guys we have to go to History of Magic," she said gesturing to herself and Lena, "and I think we're going to be late."

"Well then… good luck," huffed Fred, acting as if he was offended.

"Right, Dom? Let's get going," said Lena while tightening her hold on her book bag. "Nice prank by the way, you two" she commented as she and Dominique headed down the corridor and down the stairs to the History of Magic classroom.

The two of them made their way through the hall quickly discussing James and Fred's desire to prank the students of Hogwarts so early in year and Professor Binns, whether he'd make a good teacher and exactly what was Professor Zabini's problem.

Surprisingly they were not that late for class despite the seemingly long time they had spent in the Transfiguration corridor. When they entered the History of Magic classroom they noticed a pearly white ghost at the front of the room not unlike the ones they had seen at the welcoming feast. The students barely had time to sit down before the ghost began speaking.

"I am your History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns, let us begin. Please remember to take notes. We will start on the giant wars," the ghost said and without further ado he began describing the cause of the giant wars. His gravelly voice sent most of the class to sleep within five minutes.

History of Magic ended signaling lunch and the children filed out of the Classroom to head back toward the Great Hall for their meal. Dominique and Lena came into the entrance hall talking about the upcoming quidditch try-outs when Dominique noticed her brother Louis with his Slytherin friends having a heated discussion, he looked up abruptly and noticed his youngest sisters' questioning expression. Louis broke off the conversation and moved toward Dominique and Lena.

"See you at the Hufflepuff table," said Lena making her way to the Great Hall.

"So Dominique, how is it going?" asked Louis, Dominique ignored the question with one of her own.

"What were you talking about with those other kids?"

"What- oh that. That was… nothing, nothing," he replied unconvincingly. "Erm, Dom could I talk to you privately?" Louis changed the subject in an urgent tone.

"Sure; where?" Her brother gestured away from the crowds loitering near the Great Hall and the two of them moved to the entrance to the Dungeons.

"What did you want to talk about?" Dominique asked. Louis did not need any further prompting, without introduction he burst into speech, talking in a hushed whisper so no one near could hear.

"Are you all right with …with everything? The moon is coming soon and I wondered if you were prepared for… it" Louis said softly.

Dominique glanced around them frantically so as to make sure they weren't being overheard then said "Louis, full moon is not 'till next week. I'm fine, honest. But I don't want to talk about that, what were you and those other Slytherin's arguing about, I saw you."

"Dominique that has nothing to do with you, but I'm glad you're dealing with it fine. I hope your transformation goes well," then Louis walked back toward the group of Slytherin's with whom he was speaking earlier, Dominique gave herself a little shake and walked into the Great Hall to eat lunch.

When Dominique sat down next to Lena for lunch, she noticed that out of the corner of her eye her brother and his friends entered the Great Hall talking quietly the group split up as they approached their table- which Dominique found strange as they were all in the same house- then she saw one of her cousins, Molly gesture for Louis to come and sit next to her and her twin Lucy.

Dominique distinctly heard Louis say in an exasperated tone to Molly "not now Molly" then he went to sit at the other end of the table leaving Molly looking reproachful behind him.

"Dom, i _Dom/i_; are you even listening to me?" said Lena exasperatedly next to her.

"Oh, sorry Lena," responded Dominique, tearing her eyes away from the back of her brother's head, "what were you saying?"

"I was asking you what you and you're brother were talking about back there. So what was it?" she asked.

"That was nothing. Louis just wanted to know how my classes were so far, that's all."

Lena seemed satisfied with that answer and turned her attention back to her stew and brought back up the conversation the two were having earlier about the upcoming try-outs. Dominique expressed that she did not particularly want to play in the game.

"Well why not?" Lena asked incredulously.

"I don't know but I've always rather fancied the commentary rather than the flying around," Dominique replied, tucking in to some stew herself. A few seconds later the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. The two girls gathered up their things and left for their next class which was Double-Charms.

Charms class, too many people's disappointment, including Dominique's, was quite boring. When the students entered the class Professor Flitwick greeted them warmly then set them to take notes on the theory of charms from their books. Once the class ended and Flitwick told them to finish reading the introduction to their charms book, the students filed out of the room and burst into protest about the homework.

"He gave us i_homework/i _on the first day? And he's supposed to be the easy teacher," exclaimed Lena once she and Dominique entered their common room.

The two of them quickly claimed two chairs and a table, and began reading the introduction to their charms book until it was time to head up to the Astronomy Tower for their Astronomy lesson with Professor Sinistra.

For the rest of the week Dominique grew accustomed to the way things worked at Hogwarts. Though once the weekend arrived she was relieved, but her weekend was not completely free. Thus on Saturday, Dominique and Lena were to be found in the library surrounded by textbooks and parchment.

"Do you understand this?" asked Dominique looking at the essay requirements for the 14 inch long Defense against the Dark Arts paper that was due on Monday.

"No," responded Lena leaning over and taking a look at the copied down requirements on the parchment, "But we've got lots of time to find out what it does mean, let's just move on to something else." They grabbed their Astronomy books instead and began to work on their neglected star charts.

They were so invested in their work that the two of them didn't notice the nervous looking second year hovering near their table until he cleared his throat loud enough to make even the deepest sleeper wake with a start. The boy cleared his throat and both girls jumped.

"Excuse me but are any of you Dominique Weasley. I'm supposed to give this to her," he said in a somewhat bored voice.

"I'm Dominique Weasley," said Dominique holding out her hand for the small scroll of parchment that was in the boy's hand. The second year gave the scroll to her and disappeared.

Lena raised her eyebrows. "Since when do people send you messages? Open it," she added gesturing to the scroll in her friend's hand. Dominique unrolled the tightly furled scroll that was tied with a deep purple ribbon and read:

_iMs. Weasley,_

_I would very much like to continue our acquaintance from the train. I would very much appreciate it if you would care to have a bit of dinner tomorrow night in my office with a couple of other selected guests of my choosing. I hope to see you there at 5 o'clock, no later._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Professor H. Slughorn/i_

"What does it say?" asked Lena. Dominique handed her the parchment with a scowl and waited for a response. "So, I'm guessing you i_didn't/i _like him when you met him on the train," she said.

"Ugh. He is so… so I don't know. I just don't like him. That's all I know. He seems way too interested in the rich and famous rather than what's real in a person," Dominique answered.

"Wow, you got all that from a twenty minute meeting?"

"Yeah; it's amazing how much you tell from a person. But forget about that we should finish our Astronomy work."

Dominique put the parchment in her robe pocket and pulled her star chart close to her and continued to work on it. Lena dipped her black feathered quill into her inkpot then stopped as the quill came and hovered about an inch from the parchment in front of her before realizing something and setting down her quill. She then turned to Dominique and asked, "Wait a minute. Are you going?"

Dominique looked up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that are you going to go to that dinner?" Dominique shrugged, labeling one of Mars' moons.

"I don't know; I guess. Maybe, I don't really care, but I suppose it might not be that bad." She mumbled. Lena nodded like she understood and turned back to her star chart.

They continued to work for next few hours until dinner then left the library for the Great Hall. Dominique was thinking about the dinner the next night. Earlier she had acted as if she didn't care about it. She guessed she wouldn't even go. But as Dominique thought more and more about it she suddenly remembered something she had pushed to the back of her mind._ iHadn't Professor Slughorn looked afraid of her after the welcoming feast?_ She thought to herself. _Well maybe I'll be able to figure out why he seemed so different at dinner/i_ she finally decided, taking another forkful of the delicious Sheppard's Pie in front of her. Dominique was brought out of her thoughts by Peeves, the school poltergeist attempting to throw her own pie at her. She swatted her fork at him and he disappeared cackling like mad.

After the meal Dominique and Lena headed to the Hufflepuff common room. Once they entered it Lena quickly claimed a table so the two of them could continue the work they had been working on before dinner. Dominique made to follow her when something caught her eye, the Hufflepuff bulletin board. She gestured for Lena to wait a bit and walked over to the board. On the billboard amid the signs displaying quidditch try-outs and ads for tutoring in Charms class there was a sign asking for a new quidditch announcer for the quidditch matches. i_Hmm maybe, /i_ she thought then turned back in the direction of Lena who was busily taking notes on parchment.

The two Hufflepuffs decided to go to sleep around midnight. The two of them climbed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories yawning widely with exhaustion. It wasn't until Dominique had collapsed into bed with the hangings pulled around her bed having gotten changed with them drawn around her again that she realized that she had not seen Ted in the common room tonight. i_But I was about ready to collapse anyway I must have not noticed/i_ she decided then rolled over and was asleep in the next minute.

When Dominique woke up the next morning she groaned as she remembered the dinner she had to have with Professor Slughorn. i_At least it's the weekend/i, _she thought. She sat up and looked around the dormitory.

The other four girls were still asleep, so Dominique quietly got up and went to take a shower. When she came out, the others in the dormitory were up and getting ready as well.

"So what are the rest of you doing today?" asked Comya Foote from where she was combing her hair in front of the mirror next to the window of the dormitory.

"Dunno I think I might send a letter to my brother," said Lena, spreading out her covers over her bed.

"Wait," began Jamesena, another one of the Hufflepuff first year girls, "I thought your brother was still in school. Why would you want to send a letter to someone who's already here?"

"Oh, Alex doesn't go here," responded Lena dismissively, her tone clearly indicating that the subject was not to be pursued. Jamesena nodded then left the dormitory. Dominique gave her a questioning look but looked away.

Dominique then proceeded out of the dormitory. "I'll see you later then," she said over her shoulder to Lena who nodded and began searching in her trunk for parchment.

Dominique walked down the corridor that ran outside of the common room towards the dungeons. She needed her potion. i_It should be fine/i_ Dominique told herself. Ever since her first meeting with Slughorn the prospect of seeing him again made her uneasy. iAnd what was with the way he had looked at her after the feast? He had looked as though he was afraid of her, but why? /i Dominique wondered. Her musings were interrupted when the door to the potions classroom suddenly opened revealing the large stomach of Professor Horace Slughorn.

He peered down at Dominique and jumped back in surprise. Was it time already? "Ah, Ms. Weasley, yes the Headmistress mentioned…," he trailed off uncertainly. "Well, never mind, come in m'dear."

"Thank you… Professor," Dominique said with a curious expression on her face.

Dominique entered the classroom and looked around. There were desks in rows with a path down the middle, each desk with a cauldron perched on top. At the front of the classroom there was the teacher's desk which was covered with sheets of parchment, quills, and ink pots. On top of the parchment sat a cauldron larger than the others, bubbling with steam rising from its depths. A goblet sat next to the cauldron, it was smoking as well.

"There you are," said Slughorn nervously "just drink it and then come back tomorrow for another goblet."

Dominique nodded then walked up to the desk and grabbed the smoking goblet. After a split second hesitation she downed the foul tasting wolfsbane potion in one gulp. She gagged slightly; it tasted worse than it had before.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," said Dominique before leaving.

Dominique decided to skip Professor Slughorn's little dinner. She hadn't given it a second thought since she and Lena had talked about it. After what happened on the train she wanted as little to do with him as possible she finally decided. This would prove difficult in the coming months as she needed the potion he made in order to stay in her right mind on full moon.

Classes resumed on Monday with the first one being Defense against the Dark Arts. Professor Patil who taught the class was another old family friend. She was well liked by students and staff. Patil was largely regarded as firm but fair and sometimes rather strict.

The professor began the lesson by taking roll like the other teachers. The rest of class was spent taking notes on the course aims for the year and on Disarming Spells. After the Defense lesson, the first year Hufflepuffs had Herbology right after lunch.

Lena and Dominique entered Greenhouse One and saw the other students just barely pulling out their copies of i_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore./i_ The two of them found seats on the bench behind one of the many trays along the table in front of them. The back door to the Greenhouse opened and Professor Longbottom walked in. A few minutes later the students were drawing diagrams of Flutterby bushes.

"Why does my bulb look like an apricot?" muttered McKenzie Iron, who was working at Lena and Dominique's tray with Avena Adcock.

For the next few days Dominique settled into a routine, every morning she would wake up before her dorm mates and head down to Professor Slughorn's office for her potion, then return to her dormitory before the others woke up.

On the morning of the Full Moon, Dominique woke up with a great feeling of trepidation. She brushed the feeling aside and looked around the dormitory. As usual the others in the dormitory hadn't awoken. Dominique got dressed and left the dorm quietly.

When Dominique got to the Professor's office, the door opened almost immediately revealing Professor Slughorn holding a smoking goblet in his pudgy hand with sheen of sweat on his forehead. Upon seeing Dominique he gave a small start, but did not spill the contents of the goblet.

"Well, this is what you're here for isn't?" his voice shook a little.

Slughorn thrust the goblet of potion into Dominique's hands and before she could say a word, Professor Slughorn had ducked back into his office and slammed the door in her face. A little stunned by the turn of events, she made her way back to the Common Room to get ready for class.

During breakfast, Dominique tried not to think of Slughorn's reaction to seeing her that morning. Their earlier confrontations had been more of the same really; nevertheless Slughorn had managed to control his obvious discomfort at the situation a lot better. i_But I suppose that doesn't extend to Full Moon days, /i_ she thought glumly. Dominique did not honestly understand what was wrong with Professor Slughorn; all of the other teachers had reacted to her being in their class as though she were any other student. Why did Slughorn have to be so different?

Dominique mentally shook herself and pushed the thoughts from her mind. She then engaged herself in the conversation that the other girls in her year were having about today's classes.

The first class of the day was Defense against the Dark Arts. As the students filed into the room Professor Patil looked up from her desk and smiled at her students. Dominique and the other girls from their dormitory chose seats near one another in the middle of the room. The Hufflepuffs were having this class with the Slytherins. None of them seemed happy with this arrangement.

"Today we will be continuing our discussion of last lesson on disarming spells," began Professor Patil. "The main disarming spell used in duels most of the time is as you know the i_Expelliarmus/i_ charm…"

As Patil went on to describe the effects of the charm, Dominique found her attention slipping. The prospects of what was to happen at moonrise running through her mind. Despite the fact she had already gone through one transformation before this, it was her first outside school. On her first transformation she had been freaked out enough with the strange impulses and the reforming bones had left her sore for the larger part of the week.

By the end of class, Dominique had barely written any notes on disarming spells. Lena looked at her with an odd expression on her face, as far as she was concerned Dominique had never been this detached during class, except perhaps History of Magic. Dominique shook her head at her friends questioning look, indicating that she would rather not talk about what was bothering her. Lena nodded in understanding and the two of them exited the classroom.

For the rest of the day, Dominique barely paid attention in classes, too absorbed in her own thoughts to be aware of her surroundings. She constantly found herself looking at the clock, even though the moon had yet to rise. By the time Potions ended, her last class of the day had finished Dominique hadn't been able to sit still.

With around an hour or so until dinner Dominique tried to work on her homework, but after half an hour or so of re- reading the same passage of a textbook over and over again, she gave up. In the end Dominique decided she should probably write a letter to her parents. Once satisfied with the letter, Dominique went up to her dorm and set it down on the side table next to her bed. She would mail it the next day.

When dinner arrived, Dominique went to the Great Hall with Lena who unlike her, actually managed to do actual work. As the two girls sat down at the Hufflepuff table, Dominique looked up and noticed her brother and sister watching her from their respective tables in the Great Hall. _i Could they be any more obvious /i _she thought. Giving her siblings a look that told them to stop staring, Dominique turned to her plate and was about to begin filling it with food when a wave of nausea rolled over her. _i Silver, there must be silver here /i_. Anyone who knew about werewolves knew that silver made them feel ill especially at Full Moon. Knowing that she needed sustenance, Dominique forced herself to eat despite the nausea that made her want to vomit.

"Dom, are you okay? You don't look very well," asked Lena looking concerned.

"No, I'm fine, Lena, really. I'm just a little dizzy, that's all," replied Dominique, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Alright then," said Lena looking unconvinced, but she didn't raise any more questions, for which Dominique was grateful.

Much like earlier in the day, Dominique spent dinner compulsively checking the time to make sure she got to the Shrieking Shack on time, where she would be having her transformations, on time. As soon as she had finished her meal, Dominique realized that it was time to go to the Shrieking Shack.

"I'm going to go to bed. I'm a bit tired," she said to Lena, who nodded, stood up and left the Great Hall.

As Dominique began ascending the staircase to get to the Hospital Wing so Madam Pomfrey could take her to the passage that led to the Shrieking Shack, she became aware of someone calling her name. Turning around, she noticed Victoire exiting the Great Hall and hurrying toward her.

"Dominique, I hoped to catch you before you went to…," she trailed off uncertainly.

"Oh, right. Um, what did you want to talk about?" Dominique asked hoping to change the subject.

"I wondered if you were prepared for what will happen. You know if I could I wouldn't let you go alone," answered Victoire hesitantly.

Dominique felt touched that her sister would consider coming with her for her transformation but understood why she couldn't come.

"Thank you, Victoire, but I'll be fine. I've done it before already," said Dominique, trying and failing to smile in reassurance. "I've already talked to Louis about it. It'll be fine."

Victoire smiled weakly, gave her younger sister a brisk hug, turned in the other direction; back towards the Great Hall.

Dominique hurried up the staircase and quickly made her way to the Hospital Wing. When she arrived there she found Madam Pomfrey waiting for her. The school Matron looked up upon her arrival with a sad smile. _And so young too, isn't there any justice in the world_ she thought bitterly.

"Well, Miss Weasley, I'm sure you know what to expect, but I'll just tell you what will happen come morning. I will retrieve you from the Shrieking Shack and you will wake up in the Hospital Wing. We will see how you are in the morning. Meaning that depending on how you feel tomorrow, I'll see if you're well enough to go to classes," Madam Pomfrey explained.

Dominique nodded, showing she understood. Madam Pomfrey looked up at the clock at one end of the wing.

"Right then, you've got about fifteen minutes before the moon rises. I'm going to take you down to the entrance of the tunnel that will lead you to the Shack. I can't go down myself, but you'll fit. Come on, now," said Madam Pomfrey gesturing out the door and grabbing her cloak from her office. Dominique nodded once and followed the matron out of the Hospital Wing and out of the castle.

The pair did not encounter anyone on their way to their destination, which made sense because almost everyone was still at dinner. It was a good thing too because neither wanted awkward questions asked about why Dominique was leaving the castle so close to curfew.

Once outside, Madam Pomfrey led Dominique towards an ancient- looking willow tree. Pomfrey pulled out her wand from her cloak pocket and waved it in the air. A stick hovered in the air at the movement for a moment then moved in the direction of the seemingly innocent looking tree. The stick pressed up on a certain knot on the trunk near the roots and the Whomping Willow which had been before swaying with a slight breeze froze the instant the stick touched the knot.

"See there? That small space between those roots, that's the entrance to the tunnel," explained Pomfrey. Dominique nodded amazed at the revelation of the tunnel and how the school matron froze the Whomping Willow.

"Thank you," said Dominique briefly before turning around going through the roots Madam Pomfrey had indicated. Pomfrey nodded and turned back toward to the castle.

Inside the tunnel, Dominique had to crouch slightly because the ceiling of the tunnel was rather low. It was carved out of the ground and was very earthy. The tunnel was also quite long; Dominique kept checking her watch to make sure of the time she had left to get to the Shrieking Shack. It was when she had six minutes left till moonrise that she emerged from the tunnel into a decrepit room. The windows were all boarded up, there was a thick layer of dust coating the interior, and broken furniture covered the floor. Dominique checked her watch, there was five minutes left.

Remembering what her parents had told her about where she would transform, Dominique left through the door on her right into a dank and dark hallway, and up a rotting but hopefully reinforced staircase. On the landing there were two doors; Dominique went through the door directly in front of her as her father had told her.

Dominating the room was large broken four poster bed complete with hangings unrecognizable from the dust covering the fabric. On the left wall there was a boarded up window, underneath it there was a small pile of blankets shaped in the form of a small rounded bed.

Dominique moved to sit in the center of the room, facing the window. She stared out of a small gap in the window; through it she would be able to see the moon rising. Dominique looked back over her shoulder to make sure she had shut the door, it was closed.

Dominique felt herself go rigid. The moon had risen. i_Here it comes/i_, she thought. She tried not to think about the pain as it happened. Bones snapped and reformed, fur sprouted across her body, and claws grew out of fingernails. She cried out from the pain, her sounds giving way to howls. As soon as it had started, the process was finished.

Barely a moment's relief before the second part of her personality during Full Moon was awakened. i_Hungry/i_ said a voice in Dominique's mind that did not sound like her own. There was only the tiniest sliver recognition in the voice it was starved and feral. iIts' the wolf part of me/i she knew, fighting off the other part of her. Dominique had the sudden urge to hunt, to eat, to kill. The moment passed, leaving Dominique feeling more than a little shell shocked. The voice and the impulses had been bad enough the first time. She couldn't imagine having to go through the process one more time, much less the rest of her life. iThe reward of my stupidity/i she thought bitterly.

Dominique shook herself and looked down. She was closer to the ground than usual and on all fours. From her angle, Dominique saw the grey paws flecked with white that were her own. She sighed, or tried to; it came out as a low growl. i This is my life now I suppose/i she thought miserably.

Dominique would have cried if it were possible for a wolf to shed a tear. Instead she walked over the pile of blankets, leaving paw prints in her wake. She climbed on top of them and fell asleep, hopefully to awake in a brighter tomorrow.

Chapter notes: So sorry about the wait. Homework is all I can say, 8th grade not as easy as it looks. Anyways, I am sorry to say that you should expect updates to be irregular at this point. Sorry about that.

End notes: Again I'm sorry for the long wait. But I'm about a third done with chapter three so hopefully that will be done soon once I find time. Please tell me what you think. I thrive on reviews. Thank you for reading.


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